WASHINGTON–Both the Senate and the House are back in session this week and, “frankly, it’s crunch time to wrap up their work for the year,” said Ryan Donovan, CUNA’s chief advocacy officer.
The Senate this week will be considering judicial nominations and may also vote on the nomination of Kyle Hauptman to the NCUA board. The House will consider the Moore Act, which would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.
Today, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing to receive the quarterly CARES Act report to Congress, with the Treasury secretary and the Federal Reserve Chairman scheduled to appear.
On Wednesday, the House will hold a similar hearing on oversight of the Treasury and Fed response to the pandemic.
But there are bigger “crunch time” issues Congress must tackle in the next two to four weeks of its lame duck session, according to Donovan.
“There are a number of priorities that need to be completed by the end of the year—and I say that with some hesitance as we are hopeful they are completed,” said Donovan.
The Priorities
Those priorities include another round of COVID-19 stimulus/recovery-related legislation, and especially for credit unions, an extension of provisions related to troubled debt recovery and NCUA’s Central Liquidity Facility, said Donovan.
“Both expire at end of year and we have encouraged Congress to extend them,” he said, adding CUNA is also calling on Congress to continue to simplify the PPP’s loan forgiveness process and to extend the PPP for another round of funding.
Another issue also remains high on the CU priority list: the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is currently in conference committee hammering out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Specifically for credit unions, the issue is language in the Senate version that would give banks equal access to leases for facilities on military bases to that credit unions currently have. That access is opposed by credit unions.
Passing a Budget
Finally, Congress must act to fund the federal government. In whatever form that funding takes, credit unions are seeking to ensure money is made available for the CDFI Fund, NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, and for cooperative programs.